12 Days of Christmas

There are still Christmas decorations in the plaza, and on many of the houses.  Why is that?  Christmas was 15 days ago!  Too busy to take them down?  Maybe.  But....

It's more likely because in Mexico many people observe the actual 12 days of Christmas, which begin on December 25 and end on January 6, which is only 3 days ago.  So, that seems reasonable.  I usually keep my decorations up until about January 3.  And the only 12 days of Christmas I knew about before was the song, with lots of birds.  Did you ever count them??  She got a lot of birds!

Wikipedia tells me that in the 15th century, three traditional feasts followed Christmas.  They reflected "different ways the mystery of the Incarnation works in the body of Christ."

December 26, the 1st feast, is the feast of St. Stephen.  A traditional day for giving leftovers to the poor.  The second feast is on December 31.  It's the feast of Pope St Sylvester.  The traditions for this day seem to vary from country to country.  In Austria, people walk pigs on leashes in hope to have good luck for the coming year!

January 6 is the feast of the Epiphany.  It's also known as the Day of Holy Kings (Día de los Santos Reyes) in Mexico. The day the three kings' visit Jesus.  On this day, Mexicans traditionally eat rosca de reyes (king's ring).  An oval shaped cake decorated with candied fruit that contains a figurine of baby Jesus within it.  Whoever finds the figurine  must take it to church on February 2, Candlemas, to have it blessed.  They also have to host a dinner and offer their guests tamales.

In some traditions, those who fail to remove their Christmas decorations on Epiphany Eve must leave them untouched until Candlemas.  Stay tuned!

Photos
1) The corner beside my place in Tulum had the cutest manger beside their door.  The Madonna on the wall is likely permanent.  It's a very common icon.
2) The Christmas lights on my neighbour's house in Tulum
3) A traditional "Rosca de Reyes".  They should be round.  But are made oval to be bigger, fit in a box, and feed lots of people.  I saw lots of people walking away from the grocery store with them!
4 and 5) Decorations in the Plaza in Cozumel

For Barbara, and the curious.....Traditional nativity scenes depict shepherds and three kings visiting Jesus on the night of his birth in a manger.  Wikipedia says this is only an artistic convention allowing the two separate scenes of the Adoration of the Shepherds on the birth night and the later Adoration of the Magi to be combined.  There's some question about when the Magi / Three Kings visited Jesus.  Possible dates are January 6 (I gave up on finding out why);  40 days after Christmas (Feb 2, Candlemas) because Mary and Joseph would have been required by law to present Jesus in the temple in Jerusalem when he was days old, or 2 years after Jesus' birth because the Massacre of the Innocents ordered by King Herod to kill Jesus (a potential threat to replace Herod on the throne), included boys up to two years old.




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